Feed out mechanism for telegraph printers



Jan. 2, 1951 BALDWIN 2,536,528

FEED OUT MECHANISM FOR TELEGRAPH PRINTERS Filed D60. 22, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l I'NVENTOR EDWARD T. BALDWIN BYZLZ {RM ATTQBNEY Jan. 2, 1951 BALDWlN 2,536,528

FEED OUT MECHANISM FOR TELEGRAPH PRINTERS' 7 Filed Dec. 22, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR EDWARD T. BALDWIN ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 2, 1951 umrso STATES PATENT OFFICE *FEEDOUTMECHdITIZiZZ OR TELEGRAPH Edward T.-Baldwin, River Forest, Il L, assignor to Teletype Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corpora- Aipplicatibh December 22, israserialno. 66,733 '7 Claims. (015178- 42) '1 This invention relates to printing telegraph apparatus and more particularly to paper feed mechanisms therefor. The preferred embodiment of the invention, "as shown in the drawings and described in detail herein, is particularly suitable for use with telegraph printers of the typeshown in U. S. Patent No. 1,904,164, to Morton et al.; however, the invention is not limited for use with this particular printer and is readily adapted for use with other telegraph printers.

In the type of telegraph printers mentioned above it is customary to supply paper therefor from a continuous roll. The paper on the roll may be "either in the form of a continuous uninterrupted strip or it may be separated by rows of perforations at. uniform intervals to form ticket blanks. When the continuous uninterrupted strip is utilized, it is common practice to employ axcutter which is designed to cut the strip into tickets 'of uniform length, thereby avoiding 'the inconvenience "of tearing the tickets apart, manually or otherwise, as is necessary when the paper strip is separated by perforations. In forming tickets from a strip of paper passing through a telegraph printer it is desirable upon completion o'fprinting of information on a ticket, that means be provided for rapidly advancing a uniform length of the paper out of the printer in order to avoid the loss of signal time and generally speed up "operations. Attempts have been made in the past to accomplish this rapid feed out of telegraph paper but not without attendant drawbacks. Successive line feed signals have been used but obviously it is a slow operation to feed any appreciable length of paper in this manner. Other mechanisms have been designed wherein an auxiliary feed mechanism is provided for. feeding out the paper more rapidly than by the use of successive line feed signals; however, such mechanisms are quite complicated and expensive.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a paper feed out mechanism which is rapid in operation and of simple design.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paper feed out mechanism which is operable in response to telegraph signals, or to signals external to the telegraph signals, or is operable manually. I

By the present invention the platen is continuously urged in a direction to feed the paper by means of a chain or belt driven friction clutch, the drive member of which is rotated continu* ously by the main printer shaft. An escapement mechanism controls the rotation of the platen, the normal line feed mechanism being adapted to. control the escapement mechanism in a mannersov as, toenable step by step rotation of the platen. -Mechanismis provided which is responsive to a special telegraph signal or to impulses coming from any external source for causing the escapement mechanism to permit rapid rotation of the platen to a predetermined point to thereby rapidly feed out forms of uniform length from the printer.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will 'be apparent and the invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view showing the principal features of the invention; 7 N

Fig. 2 is a front elevationalview including the platen and drive mechanism therefor; and

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings only a portion H of the printer frame is shown. Mounted suitably for rotation in the frame is a platen shaft l2 which carries a platen It. The platen I3 is provided with a plurality of projections 15 spaced evenly about the platen and at one end thereof. These projections I5 are adapted to enter perforations in a strip of paper (not shown) which is advanced through the printer around the platen is in order to prevent slippage of the paper. It is contemplated, however, that the platen it may be used without the projections 15 or with projections on both ends of the platen l3. A friction clutch, indicated generally by reference numeral [4, is mounted on the shaft 12 and has a pair of driven members l6 which are secured to the shaft 52. A pair of drive members H are secured to a drive sleeve l B' which is rotatable about the shaft l2. A pair of friction washers l9 are mounted between the drive and driven members 11 and Hi to enable slipping therebetween when the shaft I2 is restrained and to enable the drive members I! to drive the driven members It when the shaft !2 is not re-'- strained. A leaf spring 20 supplies sufficient pressure between the driving and driven mem bers to enable rotation of the driven members When the shaft I2 is not restrained. Also car ried by the drive sleeve I 8 is a gear 2! over which rides a driving chain 22. The chain 22 also rides over a gear 23 mounted suitably for rotation with a shaft 24. A gear 25 is also mounted on the shaft 24 and meshes with a gear 21secured to a main drive shaft 28 of the printer. Since the main shaft 28 is rotated continuously, motion is transferred continuously to the drive members ll. It is contemplated that a belt may be substituted for the drive chain '22.

A bracket 29 secured suitably to the frame It by means not shown supports the feed out mech= anism. The platen shaft l2 extends through. the bracket 29 and carries a gear 3! and ratchet 32. A bracltet 33 for supporting anoperating magnet 34 is secured to the bracket 29 by means of Screws ratchet.

spring 44 secured at its other end to a stud 46 bolted suitably to the bracket 29. A member 4! secured suitably to the bracket 29 has a notch (not shown) in its upper portion for guiding the armature 42 during its pivotal movement. The armature 42 has an eccentric screw 48 which cooperates with a pawl 49 secured pivotally on a shaft and the armature 42 also cooperates with an eccentric screw 52 on a stop lever 53. Thus as the armature'42 is attracted by the magnet 34 against the action of the spring 44 the pawl 49, which normally cooperates with the ratchet 32, is withdrawn therefrom, While at the same time the stop lever 53 is free to pivot counterclockwise under the influence of a spring 54 secured suitably to a stud A stop cam 5! having a lug 5t and mountedon a shaft 59 is adapted to cooperate with the stop lever 53 during its above described movement in response to ener-.

gization of the magnet 34.

The normal step by step line feed is accomplished by the mechanism to be immediately described. Aline feed link 6! corresponds to the line feed link 243, in the above mentioned patent to Morton et al.,,and in response to a line feed signal, moves upwards slightly and then returns to V 7 feed link 6| raises, the lower pawl 6.8 is pivoted counterclockwise about a shaft H away from an eccentric stop 70 so that a tooth 72 on the pawl 58 is'moved towards the ratchet 32. The pawl 88 has a stud l3 and the pawl 4-9 has a stud 74 and the pawls are urged continuously towards one another by a spring '76 connectin the studs (3 and it. Both of the pawls 49 and 68 are prevented from engaging the ratchet 32 simultaneously by a rod H which is positioned within the convolutions' of the spring 76 and which abuts both lugs '53 and i4. When the pawl 68 is pivoted counterclockwise due to the raising of the line feed link 6!, the pawl 49 is pivoted counterclockwise due to'the action of the rod H. Pivoting of the pawl 49 in this manner removes it from engagement with the ratchet 32, and by the time that the pawl 49 and ratchet 32 are disengaged, the pawl tooth i2 is in a position to engage the However, when the pawl 49 engages one tooth on the ratchet 32 the teeth i2 is opposite the midpoint between two consecutive teeth on the ratchet so that upon the disengagement by the pawl 4s and simultaneous engagement of the pawltt with the ratchet 32, the ratchet is permitted to move counterclockwise a distance equal to one half the distance between two teeth. As the line feed link 6! lowers to its normal position the tooth I2 is withdrawn from the ratchet 32, and at this time the spring 16 draws the pawl 49 towards the ratchet 32. in this manner the ratchet 32 is again stepped. a

When the pawls move I and is'moved to a distance equal to one half the distance between two consecutive teeth thereon.

A magnet 8| is energized in response to either a special telegraph signal, in any well known manner, or to any other signal or impulse. Upon energization of the magnet 8!, its armature 82 is pulled up to thereby complete a circuit from negativ battery through a closed contact 83 and armature 82, over a lead 84, through a relay 86, to positive battery. The relay 86 looks up over a circuit extending from positive battery, through the relay 3%, over the lead 84, through a now closed armature 8? and contact 88, over a lead 89, through a closed contact pair 9| of the contact pile 38, to negative battery. The relay 86, upon being energized, also pulls up an armature 92, thereby completing a. circuit from negative battery, through a closed contact 93 and armature 92, over a lead 94, through the magnet 34, to positive battery.

When the magnet 34 is energized over the aforesaid circuit in response to either a special telegraph signal or signal from some external source, the armature 42 is pulled down. The pawl 4% is thereby disengaged from the ratchet 32 and the stop lever 53 moves towards the stop cam 511'. 'Disen'gagement of the pawl 49 from the ratchet s2 enables the'clutch i4 to rotate the platen shaft it in a counterclockwise direction (Figs. 1 and 3), since the pawl 68 is .retained in disengaged relation with the ratchet 32 due to the action of the normal line feed mechanism which is unoperated at this time. As the platen shaft i2 is rotated in this manner, the gear 3! meshes with a gear 9% and thereby causes the shaft 59, on which the gear 9% is mounted, to rotate in a clockwise direction. After the platen shaft 22 has rotated a distance sufificient to feed out a ticket or strip of paper of the proper length; as determined by the ratio between the' gears 3i and 85, the lug 58 on the stop cam 5'! engages the stop lever 53 toprevent further rotation of either the shaft 59 or the platen shaft l2. Immediately prior to the lug 53 reaching the stop lever 53 a high portion 9! on a cam .99 enigages its follower lever ea which is spring biased in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 3) by a spring it i, and upon the lug 58 reaching the stop lever 53, the follower 99 overrides the high portion 81 of the cam 98. When the follower lever 99 is pivoted clockwise, against the action of its spring Hit, by the high portion 9?, an arm 92 on the follower 99 engages and opens the contact pair 9!, thereby causing the breaking of the circuit to the magnet 34-. When the contact pair 9! is opened the relay is tie-energized, under which circumstance the armature 92 falls back to break the circuit to magnet 34.- De-energization of the magnet 34' enables the pawl 49 to move to: wards the ratchet s2 and the stop lever 53 is withdrawn from blocking engagement with the stop lug 58. 1

When the armature 42 is released the pawl 45.

is midway between two teeth on theJratchet'fii position so as to engage the next tooth on the ratchet 32 when the stop lever 53 moves from engagement with the lug 583. Therefore, upon the completion :of a feed out operation the platen i 3 isistopped first by the lug 58 engaging the stop lever 53 and momentarily thereafter ismoved one half a step after the .stop lever 53 and lug 58 become disengaged.

A manually operable lever 153 is provided for manually disengaging the .upper. pawl-mlfrom' engagement with the ratchet 32 when so desired.

The manual lever I03 is mounted pivotally on a shaft I04 and is continuously urged in a counter clockwise direction about the shaft its by a spring 36. The manual lever I93 has two projecting arms l6? between which a stud Hi3 pr0- jects, the stud I03 serving to limit the pivotal movement of the manual lever I93. There is also a stud H39 carried by the manual lever Hi3 which engages and lifts the upper pawl 39 from engagement with the ratchet 32 whenever the manual lever N33 is depressed, thus enabling an operator to manually control paper feed out due to rotation of the platen 13.

It is contemplated that changes may be made in the details of construction set forth in the description without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a telegraph printer, a rotatable platen, means continuously tending to advance said platen, a ratchet associated with said platen and rotatable therewith, an escapement mechanism cooperating with said ratchet to control the advancement of said platen by said advancing means, means operable in response to a special signal for causing said escapement mechanism to cause said advancing means to advance said platen a step, and means operable in response to a different special signal for causing said escapement means to cause said advancing means to advance said platen to a predetermined point in the rotation thereof.

2. In a telegraph ticket printer for printing tickets of uniform length, a rotatable platen, means continuously tending to advance said platen, a ratchet associated with said platen and rotatable therewith, an escapement mechanism comprising a pair of cooperating pawls cooperating with said ratchet to control the advancement of said platen by said advancing means, means operable in response to a special signal for causing said pawls to enable said advancing means to advance said platen a step, and means operable in response to a different signal for actuating one of said pawls to enable said advancing means to advance said platen to a predetermined point in the rotation thereof.

8. In a form feed out mechanism for telegraph printers, the combination of a platen, drive means for continuously urging said platen forward rotatably to feed out a form, an escapement mechanism for controlling the movement of said platen by said drive means, a line feed mechanism cooperating with said escapement mechanism to enable stepped movement of said platen by said drive means in response to line feed si nals, and an auxiliary feed mechanism cooperating with said escapement mechanism to enable continuous rotation of said platen to a predetermined position in response to another special signal, to thereby feed out said form.

4. In a form feed out mechanism for telegraph printers, the combination of a platen, drive means for continuously urging said platen forward rotatably to feed out a form, an escapement mechanism for controlling the movement of said platen by said drive means, a line feed mechanism cooperating with said escapement mechanism to enable stepped movement of said platen by said drive means in response to line feed signals, an auxiliary feed mechanism cooperating with said escapement mechanism to enable continuous rotation of said platen to a predetermined position to thereby feed out said form, and a magnet operable in response to an electrical impulse for rendering said auxiliary feed mechanism effective.

5. In a form feed out mechanism for telegraph printers, the combination of a platen, drive means for continuously urging said platen forward rotatably to feed out a form, an escapement mechanism for controlling the movement of said platen by said drive means, a line feed mechanism cooperating with said escapement mechanism to enable stepped movement of said platen by said drive means in response to line feed signals, an auxiliary feed mechanism cooperating with said escapement mechanism in response to an electrical impulse to enable continuous rotation of said platen to a predetermined position to thereby feed out said form, and manually operable means cooperating with said escapement mechanism to enable continuous rotation of said platen to feed out an indefinite number of forms.

6. In a form feed out mechanism for telegraph printers, the combination of a platen, drive means for continuously urging said platen forward rotatably, an escapement mechanism for normally restraining the movement of said platen by said drive means, a stop means, means ope able in response to an electrical impulse for rendering said escapement mechanism ineffective to thereby render said drive means effective to advance said platen, means rotatable with said platen and cooperable with said stop means upon rotation of said platen to a predetermined position for restraining further rotation of said platen, and further means rotatable with said platen effective upon said platen reaching said predetermined position for rendering said stop means and said first mentioned means rotatable with said platen ineffective to further restrain rotation of said platen and for rendering said escapement mechanism effective to restrain rotation of said platen by said drive means.

'7. In an apparatus for printing telegraph tickets of uniform length, a platen for engaging a strip of paper from which the tickets are formed, means normally urging said platen forward to feed out said strip of paper, escapement means for controlling movement of said platen by said platen urging means, line feed means cooperating with said escapement means in response to a special line feed signal for enabling said platen urging means to advance said platen a step, and means cooperating with said escapement means in response to an electrical impulse for enabling said platen urging means to continuously advance said platen an indefinite amount, whereby tickets of uniform length are invariably formed.

EDWARD T. BALDWIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,160,139 Haglund et a1 May 30, 1939 2,276,991 Long et al. Mar. 17, 1942 2,451,365 Spencer et a1. Oct. 12, 1948 

